Four Minor Party Statewide Candidates in 2012 Carried Counties in Partisan Races

Four minor party nominees in 2012 partisan statewide races carried counties. In Vermont, Cassandra Gekas, Progressive Party member-nominee for Lieutenant Governor, carried Bennington and Windham Counties. Vermont has fourteen counties. The Democratic Party had cross-endorsed Gekas, but she appeared on the ballot as “Progressive, Democrat”, indicating she considered herself a member of the Progressive Party. Vermont does not have registration by party, so the only official way a fusion candidate lets the public know the party of membership is by the order of party labels on the ballot.

In Georgia, David Staples, Libertarian nominee for Public Service Commission, carried Clayton, DeKalb, and Hancock Counties. Staples was in a two-person race with a Republican. Georgia has 159 counties.

In Texas, Jaime O. Perez, Libertarian nominee for Railroad Commission, short term, carried 9 counties: Brooks, Duval, Jim Hogg, Maverick, Starr, Webb, Willacy, Zapata, and Zavala. Texas has 254 counties. Perez was one of four Libertarian statewide nominees who ran in a race with no Democrat. Ironically, of the four Libertarians in such races, Perez received the lowest statewide percentage, 18.32%. However, none of the other three Libertarians in races without a Democrat carried any counties. None of the other three had Hispanic surnames; their names were Koelsch (21.22%), Bennett (22.12%), and Strange (21.93%). Thanks to commenter #1 for the Texas part of this post.

Among the four states discussed in this post, only Texas has a straight-ticket device on the ballot.